Like I said, updated before the end of the week! Woo! I made a deadline! I'm also having way too much fun writing Terra's reaction in these next couple of chapters.

guisniperman: You're not too far off. And we're now at the chapter where this issue is addressed, so enjoy!

Girl-luvs-manga: I'm having a lot of fun writing Terra's reaction to Bellamy. It is going to be interesting with her temperament towards other people in general, let alone people like Bellamy.

Alpenwolf: I wish you luck on your goal! Luffy and Masira was one of the scenes I had the most fun writing last chapter, but I'm having a lot more fun with Terra's reactions to the people who are going to show up in this chapter and the next.

Noitalapsi: Thank you! I hope you've gotten plenty of rest since then. I think I've been suffering insomnia myself. And I need to have this problem straightened out by Monday when classes start up again. -_-'

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Terra/Myka, Connor, and Katie are my OCs.

Chapter 48

"Well, this seems like a fun place," commented Terra as she, Zoro, and Luffy strolled down the busy street of a town that appeared to be full of other pirates. A lot of them drunk and quite a few of them fighting against each other.

Wait. There should probably be a recap of what happened prior to this scene.

Well, not too much had happened. Robin had resolved the argument about where to go next by bringing up the fact that a Log Pose doesn't immediately reset once at an island. All they had to do was stay long enough to get the information about the sky island and then they could leave. From there, they had set off for Jaya to get the information. There was a bit of a surprise when they saw the port full of other pirate ships, but that didn't stop Luffy, Zoro, and Terra from going off to explore. Of course, Terra's part in it was conditional as long as she wore her feathered cloak with the hood up the whole time they were there. She had complained about it, for she was tired of feeling like she had to keep hiding from people she didn't know. However, Nami was adamant, and in the end, Terra left the ship grumbling from under the hood.

Now that you are caught up, it's time to continue the story. And it continues when Nami caught up with the three to give them yet another order.

"I promise never to fight in this town," Luffy repeated from Nami.

"Good. Now keep your promise, okay?" said Nami.

"Yeah," said the three indifferently. Nami gave an exasperated sigh.

"Say it like you mean it! Look, if you make trouble, we'll have to leave! Then we'll never found a way up to the sky! Got it?"

"Yes, Nami. Geez, you make it sound like we can't take two steps without running into trouble," said Terra, still annoyed about her current hidden status.

"Your temper is what will start a fight with any of these guys!" said Nami, a vein popping up on her head. Terra glared back.

"Hey! I'm not that ill-tempered! And I wouldn't be giving any of these people fights! I would be giving them an ass-kicking!" she claimed. Like hell she would lose to anyone here. She was done with being on the losing end of a fight, even against a Devil Fruit user.

"That's exactly the kind of attitude I was talking about! Just stay calm for once. I won't forgive you if you make us leave because you went and started a fight!" yelled Nami. Terra huffed, annoyed.

"Alright already." It was at that moment that they walked by a man who fell off of his horse. A man who was coughing up blood.

"Hey . . . pardon me folks, but . . . can you help me up?" he implored.

"Aren't you even going to do it yourself?" asked Zoro. Regardless, Luffy helped the man back onto his horse.

"Much obliged," said the man, "I was born with a weak constitution." Then, when he tried to get the horse moving, the horse had stumbled and coughed up blood. Terra was giving this whole scene a what-the-hell look. How was either the man or the horse still alive? It had to be the work of some miracle or some curse because she couldn't imagine wanting to live like that for long. Before the man left, though, he held out a basket of apples.

"I haven't any money to give you, but please, take one," he said.

"No thanks. They look suspicious. Just be off," replied Zoro. Luffy, on the other hand, grabbed one and immediately bit into it. Suddenly, a building behind them exploded. That was when the shouting started.

"What happened?"

"Well, this strange guy was giving away apples, and when they took one and ate them, five of them exploded!"

"Argh! Why that scurvy dog!" That was all Terra needed to hear to gang up on the man with Zoro while Nami tried to get Luffy to spit out the apple.

"What's the big idea?" asked Zoro, poised to draw his sword out. The sick man laughed.

"He'll be all right. If it had been a bad one, you'd have died instantly. That one was all right. You're a lucky boy," he said while staring at Luffy. Yeah, so they walked away from the crazy sick man. Terra had no idea who he was, but she did not want to have anything more to do with him. Once they were out of earshot of him, Nami began to vent.

"What kind of place is this?" she asked.

"Calm down, Nami," said Luffy.

"Calm down? You could've been killed just now!" she yelled.

"Things like that happen."

"Unfortunately, he's not too far off there," said Terra. They were in a town full of pirates. Someone randomly killing someone else couldn't have been unheard of.

"Well, they shouldn't! This is insane! I'm not sure we'll ever find out . . ." The rest of Nami's rant Terra had drowned out. Mainly because of something else that had caught her eye. Her disappearance wasn't noticed by the others until Nami started to drag Zoro and Luffy away from a grappling champion.

"Ah! Where did Terra go?" asked Nami. She was looking around frantically for the woman.

"There's no need to worry about her. She can take care of herself here," assured Zoro.

"No! We need to find her. With her temper, we'll be in trouble for sure!" said Nami.

"There's no need to worry. She's just over there," said Luffy, pointing at the formerly missing woman. The black feathered cloak really did help him pick her out of the crowd.

"Oh, thank goodness. She hasn't started anything yet," said Nami as she sighed in relief. The three approached the woman from behind. Terra had stopped in front of a young dark-haired man who had a sword strapped to his back. The sword was a katana in a black sheath and the hilt was wrapped with a purple ribbon. In fact, it was the sword she appeared to be staring at. It was hard to tell with the hood shadowing her face.

"Where did you get that sword?" she asked the man. Nami frowned at the question. Why did Terra want to know about a sword? The man looked down at her, frowning.

"What's it to you?" he sneered.

"Just answer the question," she growled. She was not in the mood to hear anyone's shit. The man smirked and pointed his thumb at the sword.

"Apparently you have a good eye for weapons. This one here I had swiped from another pirate ship during a raid. People say that it used to belong to a very nasty pirate, but she's long been dead, so it's not like she's going to have any use for it," he said. Nami saw Terra's hand twitch at the mention of the pirate. That was when she remembered that Terra was supposed to have previously owned a sword.

"What was the name of this pirate?" Terra asked him.

"You might have heard of her, or maybe not. She's been dead for at least a year. But the pirate was none other than that mercenary who would regularly turn on her captain, kill her crew, and move on to work for a different pirate crew. The Freelancer, Myka." Nami heard Terra give a sharp intake of breath at the sound of her old name. So, Terra had recognized her old weapon, even though she hadn't been present when Robin had explained to the rest of them that she was a swordswoman.

"Even this dagger here was hers once. I managed to swipe these weapons from the same pirates who claimed to have killed her," the man continued to boast, indicating to the dagger with the deep blue hilt at his waist. Having heard enough, Nami walked up to Terra and grabbed her shoulder. Terra looked behind her at Nami, her thoughts interrupted by the sudden grab.

"Hey, Terra, don't disappear on us like that," said Nami. She couldn't see Terra's expression due to the shadow of the hood, but Terra was at least not thinking about beating this guy up at the moment. However . . .

"Hey mister!" Luffy stepped forward to face the unknown pirate. The man frowned down at Luffy.

"What is it, kid?" Luffy pointed at the sword.

"Give us the sword and knife," he requested.

"Huh?" The pirate was staring at Luffy like he had grown a second head. Terra was looking at Luffy quizzically. She hadn't been sure if she wanted the sword back if it had been hers, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt to collect it. After all, the man just said it was her sword.

"You heard me," said Luffy. The pirate laughed.

"Look kid, I don't know what kind of backwater country you're from, but around here, pirates don't like to give things away for free."

"The man on the horse was giving away exploding apples for free," retorted Terra.

"That's beside the point," said the pirate, annoyed, "The weapons aren't for sale, so I suggest you lot to get lost."

"Now hold it," said Terra, stepping between the man and Luffy.

"What do you want now?" asked the man.

"What if I fight you? You lose and I get the weapons," proposed Terra.

"Terra!" yelled Nami. Terra turned to face Nami.

"Sorry, but there is something I need to settle. I'll find a way to make this up later," she said. Nami realized that Terra was talking about the promise she made not to fight. Nami was mad about that, but more than that, she was worried. The reputation surrounding Myka's name was horrible, and there was no way those weapons would help reawaken any positive memories. She was afraid that Terra's behavior would only get worse from there.

"What do I get if I win?" asked the pirate.

"All the money I have in my pocket," said Terra, not missing a beat. The pirate scoffed.

"Please, I'm with Bellamy the Hyena. I have no need for your pitiful pocket change." Terra's hand twitched again. Fact was, she was flat broke, but she hadn't intended on revealing that. As much as she was annoyed by this unknown wannabe pirate in front of her, she'd rather do this in a way that gave him no right to complain about the outcome. If he still did, well, then she would cease to be polite about this ordeal.

"Then what would you suggest?" she asked. He smirked.

"How about if I win, you remove your hood and I'll decide if you have a pretty enough face to accompany me for the night. Of course, it'll have to make up for that small chest of yours," he said. A vein popped up on Terra's forehead. This asshole was lucky she was with her friends. She wouldn't have felt the need to refrain from brutally killing him for such a suggestion, otherwise.

"Deal," said Terra. She sounded pissed, but confident enough. Of course she was. Terra wasn't the kind of person to back down from a challenge she proposed.

"Terra! What about his crew? Are you trying to bring trouble down on us?" asked Nami. She was imploring with Terra to not start anything. The man laughed.

"Don't worry. The loser won't have any right to complain or bring their crewmates into it. How's that sound?" he asked. Terra nodded.

"That and the loser won't be conscious enough to complain for a few hours after the fight," she added flatly.

"Oh, you're pretty cocky for a woman," laughed the pirate. And the deadly aura known as Terra's rage began to leak through.

"Just walk down that alley there. I'd rather not waste any unnecessary time on this," she demanded. The pirate continued to laugh at her as he led the way down the narrow alley between two brick buildings. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami stayed at the end. Nami didn't want to get involved, but she didn't think anything good would come from reclaiming that blade.

"Don't worry, Nami. Terra's not gonna lose," assured Luffy.

"That's not what I'm concerned about," she confessed, "What if she remembers something and goes berserk? How can we stop her then?"

"She's not going to do that. She's not the kind of person to attack us," said Luffy, resolute.

"Hey guys!" called Terra. The three looked down the alley to see Terra emerging. Now she had the sword strapped to her back and the knife attached to her belt.

The fight didn't last long at all. The man had tried to slash at her from above, before she was ready to fight, but was surprised to see her grab the blade with her gloved hand. While he was still trying to figure out how she did that without being in pain, she threw him against the wall headfirst. It was a one-hit KO. Terra had claimed her prizes and left behind the man who would be unconscious for a couple of hours and would most likely come out of it with a concussion.

"Turns out I didn't break that promise after all," reported Terra.

"Why do you say that? You just knocked him unconscious!" yelled Nami, not seeing how Terra didn't break the promise.

"Because that wasn't a fight. That was more of an ass-kicking. There's a difference between the two," she said with a sly smirk. Nami was ready to throttle her for that look.

"Well, you got your weapons back. Now what?" asked Zoro. Terra shrugged.

"I guess I'll just look over them when we get back to the ship. Although, I do wonder about that pirate crew that guy mentioned. The one that claimed to have killed me . . . when I was Myka. I kind of want to look into that," she said. Terra didn't really have a plan for the weapons. She might keep the knife on hand in case she needed it, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to take up the sword. That skill hadn't been too useful back on Drum Island.

"Anyway, now that that's over with, shall we continue to look for someone who will tell us about the sky island?" asked Terra, as though nothing at all had just happened. Before Nami could go off on her, Terra had already started walking in a particular direction.

"Let's try over here. It seems quieter," she said. In fact, she had been right. What Terra had led them to was a beautiful resort. The sight had been enough to quell Nami's anger towards Terra (Zoro and Luffy were wondering if that was what Terra had been after in leading them there).

"What a relief after that horrible town," said Nami.

"It's a vacation villa by the sea," observed Zoro.

"I don't see anybody, but I smell something good cooking," said Luffy. Terra's sweat dropped.

"Of course that would be the first thing you picked up on," she commented.

"Oh! Please! Please! You can't!" said a foreign voice. Everyone looked over to see a man running over to them. And he was fidgeting like none other.

"The tropical hotel is currently being rented out by the Bellamy party," he said nervously.

"Hotel? This is a hotel?" asked Zoro.

"If Captain Bellamy finds you here, there will be big trouble. Please leave at once!" ordered the nervous man. Nami flinched at the name. Bellamy? The guy that pirate said he was associated with? Great, Terra had led them straight to the lion's den!

"Maybe if you stopped fidgeting, I would be more inclined to take you seriously," remarked Terra, not impressed by whoever this captain was. It was as if she didn't remember what she had done not five minutes ago.

"What's all this? Who are these bilge rats?" asked a new voice. The hotel manager looked like he was about to jump out of his skin from the sight of a man wearing a furry coat and a tattoo of a particular Jolly Roger on his chest. This Jolly Roger was a smiley face with a line going across it, like a cancellation sign. He had his arm around a woman who was about a head shorter than him, wore sunglasses and a bandana on her head, and looked just about as rude as the guy was.

"M-Mr. Sarquiss! Welcome back! I, uh . . ." the manager stumbled over his words, trying to excuse the presence of other people there.

"No excuses," said the woman, "Just get them out of here! We're not paying you to let people wander in here!" The two looked down at Luffy as they approached them.

"Got it? Get lost, brat," demanded the man, Sarquiss. Luffy gave Sarquiss one look before turning to Nami.

"Nami, can I beat this guy up?" he asked bluntly.

"Absolutely not!" shouted Nami angrily.

"Can I, then? I find them annoying," said Terra, although she was still examining the tattoo on Sarquiss' chest.

"Of course not! You've done enough for today!" Nami scolded the woman. Sarquiss started to laugh.

"That's very funny. You two, beat me up?" He pulled out some cash and carelessly dropped it on the ground in front of them.

"What a joke. Here. Go buy yourself some decent clothes," he said. As the two laughed, three out of the four Straw Hats got pissed off by the gesture. Only Luffy looked like he was about to accept the money without realizing the implications behind the action.

"On second thought, I'm just going to go ahead and kick his ass," said Terra, her hand automatically going to the sword hilt.

Unfortunately, Zoro had grabbed her by the upper arm and started to drag her away as Nami dragged Luffy with them.

"Don't. It's not worth it," said Zoro. Terra huffed.

"Excuse me if I don't like to be belittled," she grumbled, ripping her arm out of his grip. They were now outside of the hotel and back onto the crowded street. Instead of going back, though, she walked alongside them to a local tavern. She wanted to beat them up, but she didn't want to walk all the way back to the resort.

The packed tavern seemed like a good enough place to try to learn something from. Terra sat between Zoro and Nami at the counter as they all ordered drinks from the bartender. Luffy had also ordered a cherry pie.

Nami then asked the bartender about the town.

"Mock Town was built on pirate booty. Pirates are free with their loot. Brawls and killings are commonplace here, but the pirates never lay a hand on the townsfolk. What good is money if there isn't anywhere to spend it, right?" he explained.

"But this town really gives me a bad feeling," said Nami. The bartender laughed lightly.

"I suppose that's a normal reaction to the place. But we don't get many normal people in this town. Your Log Pose will reset in four days. If you're smart, you'll leave before you get caught up in anything," he advised. Nami looked down at the Log Pose, still pointing up towards the sky.

"Four days, huh? Then I say we leave in two," she said. Terra nodded.

"Sounds reasonable." Nami was about to ask the bartender another question when both Luffy and the large man next to him with curly black hair and a few missing teeth called out to him.

"This cherry pie is so bad I could die!" complained Luffy.

"This cherry pie is so good I could die!" praised the man at the same time. They both glared at each other for a moment. Then they both took a swig of their drinks.

"That drink was really good!" praised Luffy.

"That drink was really bad!" complained the man, again, at the same time. The two glared at each other again. Terra could practically see the sparks of rage flying between the two.

"Whatever. It's not like I'm the cook," said the bartender, trying to stay out of . . . whatever this was.

"Something wrong with your tongue?" the man asked Luffy.

"Something wrong with your brain?" Luffy asked him back. Terra could only stare, amused by the argument, but more confused about why there seemed to be an argument in the first place. Now the two were trying to outdo each other on how many cherry pies or packs of meat they could order.

"HEY, YOU! You wanna fight?" They finally asked each other.

"What are you fighting about?" shouted Zoro. Terra pinched the bridge of her nose and looked down at the counter. She could feel a headache coming on.

"Luffy! You promised, remember? Besides, how much meat are you buying? We don't have that kind of money right now! We're not here on a shopping spree!" scolded Nami.

"Are you . . . a pirate?" asked the man.

"That's right!" said Luffy.

"What's your bounty?"

"Thirty million!" stated Luffy. The man frowned.

"Thirty million? You? That's impossible! You're a liar!"

"I'm not a liar! It's true!"

"Stop it!" demanded Terra. Finally, the bartender gave the man his cherry pies and he left. Terra sighed. Finally, there was peace.

Then someone walked in the front doors.

"Anybody seen a pirate in a straw hat around here?" Goddammit, here they go again . . .

Wow, this is definitely one of my longer chapters. Oh well, I do not regret this cliffhanger!

Terra has now reclaimed her sword and knife! Where will this lead? Also, well, knowing Terra, how will things go down between the two parties in the next chapter? Hehe, I'm having too much fun writing this. XD

I predict that I'll be able to get one more chapter out before my semester kicks off, then the long waiting games begin.

For now, please tell me your thoughts on the chapter and story so far in a review and I'll be back pretty soon with the next update. Later!